Orange Hats: micro but mighty

[Ozarker]

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I’ve been a fan of Orange Hat micro tomatoes for several years, so I always start a few. This year they’re outdoing themselves. My wife counted 45 fruits on our “primary” Orange Hat that’s in a small pot and stands less than 8 inches tall. Our “secondary” Orange Hat was left over after all our family claimed the tomato starts they fancied, so it was delayed by spending a longer time than ideal in a smaller pot before getting planted into a spare corner of one of my straw bales. Nevertheless, Orange Hat Number Two has about 15 fruits on its 6.5 inch height. These little tomatoes are amazingly productive.

[AKgardener]

It would be a crime not to grow a micro haha there amazing little plants

[Spike]

I have one that has been growing on top of my fridge for the past 2 years! Still producing fruit. Total spitters but I love the plant anyway!

[KaguyaCloud]

I find that Orange Hats are really difficult to determine when they're ripe when I first grew them out. They seem to continue to ripen even after their skins turn bright orange. I find that a good end point to determine ripeness is to wait until the flesh is very soft to the touch; soft enough that you can squish it with two fingers very easily. Those ones I find to be really ripe turn out to be decently sweet with a nice umami aftertaste to them. The skins are still pretty thick however. I'm sure there are better varieties out there.

A consistent fertilization schedule also improves flavor. I've been growing the same Orange Hats in the same container for about a year now and somehow they keep producing.

[Labradors]

KaguyaCloud, that was very helpful . Believe it or not, I didn't like Sungold at first because I wasn't letting them ripen for long enough.....

It's so tempting to grow such a prolific micro, but I'm not sure I dare risk growing a total spitter.

[KaguyaCloud]

It's so tempting to grow such a prolific micro, but I'm not sure I dare risk growing a total spitter.

Oh it can be an absolute spitter if you're not careful. I'd say about 90% of the time the tomatoes test pretty bland if I'm impatient. I'm not sure if I were to recommend this variety at all if I'm being truly honest.

That's why I'm trialing a couple more micros this year. I'll likely make another post once my Jochalos, Vilma, and Micro Tina ripen just to cross compare the flavor. Based on my conditions, it seems that other micro tomatoes can be just as prolific.

[AKgardener]

You can never have to many micros I have 12 varieties I just started a few days ago because 5 of mine are now flowering and have maters so it was time for another round but again different varieties

[HydroponicHomestead]

I have grown Orange Hat tomatoes a couple times in Aerogarden, and I love the sweet flavor! Of course I want to try all the micro dwarf tomatoes that exist, but Orange Hat will be in heavy rotation for me.

[JayneR13]

I've grown these once or twice. They are a very nice micro, and micros do well in my hydroponics units. I have found with any micro that after a few months, the fruits will get quite bitter! I've found this so with both determinate and indeterminant varieties. Since I don't enjoy spitters, I clean them out and replant. Lettuces do the same thing, in my experience. They may or may not bolt, but after awhile they get very bitter.

[HydroponicHomestead]

Yes, @JayneR13 I have found the same thing to be true of lettuce. After a couple weeks it tastes bad. I like to have another crop of lettuce already in the works so I don't have a hungry gap while I'm waiting for the next to be ready.

I haven't noticed the same with my Orange Hat tomatoes, but then I never did leave them long enough to find out, maybe. I wonder with the tomatoes if the levels of magnesium and calcium would impact how long the fruits can stay sweet and tasty? There's probably some way to make them give yummy fruit longer.

[JayneR13]

Perhaps. I’ve never tried manipulating calcium or magnesium in my nutrient solution. I remember most notably my Tiny Tim, which are a determinant variety, getting super bitter after the initial flush. My Minibels, which are indeterminate, fruited for several months before they got bitter. I’ve never tried OH hydroponically.

[HydroponicHomestead]

TinyTim tasted terrible to me even on the first flush! I've never grown it again since it tasted so bad. Maybe I'll give it another go; plant two and increase the CalMag in one of them.

[Stitchingmom]

I have found that the second harvest of my micros invariably tastes better than the first.